Meanwhile, He Yu Cheng was already back in his Cave Heaven. He stretched, relaxed his muscles, and slept soundly!
School would start again soon, and Yu Shui would be going to high school. He needed to earn Yu Shui's tuition during this time. He didn't lack food now, but he really needed money. He didn't even have enough to buy seeds in the Cave Heaven.
Fortunately, he had gone to the street office earlier that day and taken on the role of a clerk.
He earned three jiao a day, which was only nine yuan a month. Although it wasn't much, it was better than nothing. In these times, even if you had money, you couldn't buy food. He would just have to endure for a while and then use his food to exchange for money on the black market!
After a good night's sleep, he would start his first job in the capital of the 1960s.
The next morning, He Yu Cheng got up, washed, and prepared some rice and noodles from his Cave Heaven. He made porridge and flatbread, and after He Yu Shui woke up, he went to the street office.
As a child, He Yu Cheng had heard countless stories about how miserable the year 1960 was. People ate grass roots and gnawed on bark, but the reality was even more horrifying. They couldn't even find grass roots and bark every day. Sometimes, they would fight to the death over a piece of bark. Later, even the bark ran out, because not all trees were edible.
Out of desperation, people discovered something called "Guanyin Soil" that they could eat. It was a type of earth, but they couldn't eat too much because it wouldn't digest and would get stuck in their stomachs. Many people died from eating it.
The principle of survival is something we rarely feel in our normal lives. We often like to talk about stories of "not eating food given by others," as a symbol of not losing dignity even in death. But when a person is starving, whether they can truly achieve this is questionable.
While registering these refugees, He Yu Cheng heard many stories. Some young women married villagers who would normally have a hard time finding wives. It was said that three sheng of rice could get you a wife. Perhaps it was true hunger. Hunger could make people do anything.
Seeing these faces devoid of life, He Yu Cheng knew that with his abilities, he could only do so much to help them.
After registering the dozens of refugees in the street, Director Wang saw the list He Yu Cheng had compiled. He was impressed. Not only was his handwriting beautiful, but the statistics were also clear and easy to understand.
"Yu Cheng, your data recording is excellent! It's saved me a lot of trouble. Show this to the other street offices and tell them to use the same format for recording their data."
Hearing this, He Yu Cheng smiled and said, "Director Wang, I'm just doing my part. It's better to help in any way I can. After all, these refugees are really pitiful."
Director Wang sighed and said, "The government is trying its best. Before, we were ordered to clear out and repatriate the refugees because there was really no other way. Now, even if we have money, we can't buy food. Seeing them all hungry makes me feel bad."
In his past life, as a child, He Yu Cheng had also wondered why, if so many people were starving and ate tree roots and rotten vegetables, no one went out to hunt or fish. Surely, if they used their brains, they could survive, right?
But now, in this era, he realized how naive his thoughts were.
Firstly, hunting in the wild required a lot of physical strength, and there was no 100% guarantee of catching any prey. Therefore, many people were unwilling to hunt. Additionally, these animals were also somewhat aggressive, and people at the time didn't have many tools, and their strength was already depleted, so they might not be able to defeat these wild animals.
He also learned through telepathic communication that many people chose to catch wild rabbits to eat. However, hunting was not as simple as people imagined. Many were already hungry, their minds were hazy, and they hadn't eaten for a long time, making it difficult to even walk. Forget about hunting; even turning over was difficult. Many children and adults were simply skin and bones.
As for fishing, countless people died during the famine. Any place with a water source often had the most deaths. The water was full of bacteria, and after catching fish, there was no way to find clean water to wash them. Therefore, even if you spent a lot of effort catching them and didn't treat them properly, eating them could still make you sick and lead to death.
There were even rumors that some of the fish they caught had human teeth in their stomachs, causing people to be too afraid to eat fish. Don't think this is ridiculous; it was really possible in this time.
The capital city was one of the areas with the least severe famine. At least there was a street office and some government management, so people didn't starve to death. But they only survived, that's all.
He Yu Cheng thought for a moment and said, "Director Wang, more and more refugees are coming to our street office. The pressure on the street office is increasing. After all, we have limited staff. There are over a dozen able-bodied men in our street, but they are all too weak from hunger. We can give them some food to fill their stomachs. Those who have skills can be given work to help themselves. For those who don't have any skills, we can go fishing in Beihai and Shichahai with them. This will reduce the burden on the street office and quickly help the refugees return to normal life."
Director Wang listened carefully to He Yu Cheng's ideas and said, "Yu Cheng, your ideas are good. I just wonder if they are willing to do it."
For He Yu Cheng, it was easy to win over these people. It was just a matter of thought.
He had chosen to work at the street office knowing that it wasn't an easy job, but street cadres had a lot of influence. With his abilities, He Yu Cheng was confident that he would soon get a formal position at the street office. Then, no matter how much that pack of animals in the courtyard tried to get at him, they would have to swallow their teeth!
In the original story, Yi Zhong Hai repeatedly donated to the Jia family. Now that he worked at the street office, how dare you donate?
Seeing that Director Wang was interested, He Yu Cheng smiled and said, "Director Wang, when I was registering them, I talked to them a bit. As long as they can eat their fill, they are willing to work hard. Let's set a good example. If other streets follow our lead and solve the problem of the refugees' livelihoods, it will help them return to normal life. That's also a contribution, isn't it? Besides, it's summer now, so it's convenient to take care of them. But what if winter comes? Who knows how many people will freeze to death."
This wasn't a baseless worry. He Yu Cheng knew that the famine would last at least another year. When winter came, the temperature difference between indoors and outdoors in the capital city was quite significant. Unlike the modern era with air conditioning, the wind and snow raged outside, while inside it was warm as spring!